Ann M. Martin, the daughter of an illustrator and a teacher,
wrote more than a dozen books for young adults before beginning
the popular Baby-Sitters Club series. She began writing her first
young adult novel, Bummer Summer, in 1980. It was not finished for
three years, because Martin could only find time to write early in the
morning.

The story is about twelve-year-old Kammy Whitlock, whose
widower father remarries. Suddenly, she has a new three-year-old
stepsister, Muffin, and a baby stepbrother, Baby Boy. Kammy's paints
are flushed down the toilet and her cat is tormented. She never has a
private moment with her father. She is exasperated. Spending the
summer away at Camp Arrowhead does not excite her—at first—but
being at camp helps her sort out her family situation.

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